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Directions for Correcting a Theme
When a theme is returned to you, number each correction, and draw a
heavy circle about the number. Then take another sheet of paper, and
using the numbers that correspond to those on your theme, state in each
case the error you made; then correct it, and give your reason for
making this correction: for instance, if the mistake is marked W,
i.e. a word misused, state whether the word to which the critic
objected is not in good usage, or is too often repeated, or does not
give the idea intended. Next, supply the proper word and show that it
fits the place. Answer any questions asked by the critic and follow out
any suggestion given. Put the sheet of corrections in proper form for a
M.S. Fasten the sheet to your original theme and hand both to the
teacher in charge of the laboratory. No credit will be given for any
written theme until the mistakes are corrected.
The following signs are used to indicate mistakes in a theme:
C--Capital needed.
lc--No capital needed.
A--Mistake in use of the apostrophe.
S--Word misspelled.
P--Mistake in punctuation.
G--Mistake in grammar.
W--Wrong word used.
Cons--The construction of the sentence is poor.
D--The statement is ambiguous.
O--Order. This may refer to arrangement of words in a sentence, of
sentences in a paragraph, or of paragraphs in a theme.
U--The sentence or paragraph lacks unity.
X--Discover the mistake for yourself.
PRACTICAL
ENGLISH COMPOSITION
BOOK II
FOR THE SECOND YEAR OF THE HIGH SCHOOL
BY
EDWIN L. MILLER, A.M.
PRINCIPAL OF THE NORTHWESTERN HIGH SCHOOL
DETROIT, MICHIGAN
BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY
The Riverside Press Cambridge
COPYRIGHT, 1916, BY EDWIN L. MILLER
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
THE RIVERSIDE PRESS
CAMBRIDGE. MASSACHUSETTS
U . S . A
PREFACE
This volume is the second in a series of four, each of which has been
planned to cover one stage in the composition work of the
secondary-school course. These books have been designed to supply
material adapted as exactly as possible to the capacity of the pupils.
Most of the exercises which they contain have been devised with the idea
of reproducing in an elementary form the methods of self-instruction
which have been employed by successful writers from Homer to Kipling.
Nearly all of them have been subjected to the test of actual classroom
use on a large scale. They may be used independently or as supplementary
to a more formal textbook. Each volume contains rather more work than an
ordinary class can do in one hundred recitations.
In each volume will be found exercises that involve each of the four
forms of discourse; but emphasis is placed in Book I on description, in
Book II on narration, in Book III on exposition, and in Book IV on
argumentation. Similarly, while stress is laid in Book I on
letter-writing, in Book II on journalism, in Book III on literary
effect, and in Book IV on the civic aspects of composition, all of these
phases of the subject receive attention in each volume.
In every lesson of each book provision is made for oral work: first,
because it is an end valuable in itself; second, because it is of
incalculable use in preparing the ground for written work; third,
because it can be made to give the pupil a proper and powerful motive
for writing with care; and, fourth, because, when employed with
discretion, it lightens the teacher's burden without impairing his
efficiency.
Composition is not writing. Writing is only one step in composition. The
gathering of material, the organization of material, criticism,
revision, publication, and the reaction that follows publication are
therefore in these volumes given due recognition.
The quotation at the head of each chapter and the poem at the end are
designed to furnish that stimulus to the will and the imagination
without which great practical achievement is impossible. On the other
hand, the exercises are all designed on the theory that the sort of
idealism which has no practical results is a snare. Indeed, the books
might be characterized as an effort to find a useful compromise between
those warring types of educational theory which are usually
characterized by the words "academic" and "vocational."
The specific subject of this volume is newspaper writing. The author has
himself had enough experience in practical newspaper work to appreciate
the difficulties and to respect the achievements of the journalist. He
knows that editors must print what people will buy. It seems probable,
therefore, that instruction in the elementary principles of newspaper
writing, in addition to producing good academic results, may lead pupils
to read the papers critically, to discriminate between the good and the
bad, and to demand a better quality of journalism than it is now
possible for editors to offer. If this happens, the papers will improve.
The aim of this book is therefore social as well as academic. It is also
vocational. Some of the boys and girls who study it will learn from its
pages the elements of the arts of proof-reading and reporting well
enough to begin, by virtue of the skill thus acquired, to earn their
bread and butter.
For the chapters on advertising I am indebted to Mr. Karl Murchey, of
the Cass Technical High School of Detroit, Michigan. Mr. John V.
Brennan, Miss Grace Albert, and Miss Eva Kinney, of the Detroit
Northwestern High School, have rendered me invaluable help by
suggestions, by proof-reading, and by trying out the exercises in their
classes. Mr. C. C. Certain, of Birmingham, Alabama, and Mr. E. H. Kemper
McComb, of the Technical High School, Indianapolis, by hints based on
their own wide experience and ripe scholarship, have enabled me to avoid
numerous pitfalls. My thanks are due also to Mr. Francis W. Daire, of
the _Newark News_, and Mr. C. B. Nicolson, of the _Detroit Free Press_,
who have given me the benefit of their experience as practical newspaper
men. Above all, I am indebted to my friend, Mr. Henry P. Hetherington,
of the _Detroit Journal_, whose untimely death in June, 1914, deprived
me of a never-failing source of wisdom and a critic to whose ripe
judgment I owe more than I know how to describe.
E. L. M.
CONTENTS
I. THE NEWSPAPER 1
II. NEWS ITEMS 9
III. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES 15
IV. REPORTING ACCIDENTS 19
V. CONSTRUCTIVE NEWSPAPER WRITING 23
VI. HUMOROUS ITEMS 29
VII. THE USE OF CONTRAST 33
VIII. THRILLERS 38
IX. BOOK REVIEWS 45
X. REPORTING GAMES 52
XI. REPORTING SPEECHES 63
XII. DRAMATIC NOTICES 71
XIII. INTERVIEWS 77
XIV. THE EXPOSITION OF MECHANICS 84
XV. THE EXPOSITION OF IDEAS 90
XVI. EDITORIALS--CONSTRUCTIVE 97
XVII. EDITORIALS--DESTRUCTIVE 102
XVIII. ADVERTISEMENTS 108
XIX. ADVERTISEMENTS (_continued_) 114
XX. ADVERTISEMENTS (_concluded_) 118
"Whoever wishes to attain an English style, familiar but not
coarse, and elegant but not ostentatious, must give his days and
nights to the volumes of Addison."
SAMUEL JOHNSON. _Life of Addison._
"Children learn to speak by watching the lips and catching the
words of those who know how already; and poets learn in the same
way from their elders."
JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL. _Essay on Chaucer._
"Grammars of rhetoric and grammars of logic are among the most
useless furniture of a shelf. Give a boy Robinson Crusoe. That
is worth all the grammars of rhetoric and logic in the world....
Who ever reasoned better for having been taught the difference
between a syllogism and an enthymeme? Who ever composed with
greater spirit and elegance because he could define an oxymoron
or an aposiopesis?"
THOMAS BABINGTON MACAULAY.
_Trevelyan's Life of Lord Macaulay._ Chapter VI.
PRACTICAL ENGLISH COMPOSITION BOOK II
CHAPTER I
THE NEWSPAPER
"Truth is the highest thing that man may keep."
CHAUCER.
I. Introduction
The object of this book is to teach high-school boys and girls how to
write plain newspaper English. Next to letter-writing, this is at once
the simplest and the most practical form of composition. The pupil who
does preëminently well the work outlined in this volume may become a
proof-reader, a reporter, an editor, or even a journalist. In other
words, the student of this book is working on a practical
bread-and-butter proposition. He must remember, however, that the
lessons it contains are elementary. They are only a beginning. And even
this beginning can be made only by the most strenuous and persistent
exertions. English is not an easy subject. It is the hardest subject in
the curriculum. To succeed in English three things are required: (1)
Work; (2) _Work_; (3) WORK.
II. The Newspaper
The modern city newspaper is a complicated machine. At its head is
usually a general manager, who may be one of its owners. Directly
responsible to him are the business manager, the superintendent of the
mechanical department, and the managing editor.
The business manager has under him three sub-departments: (1)
Advertising; (2) Circulation; (3) Auditing. To the first of these is
entrusted the duty of taking care of those small advertisements which,
owing to the fact that each occupies only a line or two, are called
"liners"; the management of a corps of solicitors; and the maintenance
of amicable relations with the business men of the community. The
circulation department includes not only the management of local and
foreign circulation, but also the collection of money from subscribers,
dealers, and newsboys. The auditor keeps the books, has charge of the
cash, and manages the payroll.
The superintendent of the mechanical department has three subordinates.
These are the foreman of the composing-room, the foreman of the
pressroom, and the foreman of the stereotyping-room. Each, of course,
always has several assistants and often many.
The managing editor has charge of the collection and distribution of
news. He has no routine duties, but is responsible for the conduct of
his subordinates, for the character of the paper, and for its success as
a business enterprise. The relation of the paper to the public is in his
keeping. Not infrequently he has serious differences of opinion with the
business manager, especially when he publishes news which does not
please important advertisers. Among his chief occupations are devising
methods of getting news and avoiding libel suits. The subordinates who
report directly to him are the writers of special columns, the
cartoonists, the editorial writers, the editor of the Sunday paper, and
the assistant managing editor, or news editor. It is with the latter and
his staff that we are at present chiefly concerned.
The news editor, or night editor, as he is called on a morning paper,
has charge of all the routine that is involved in the production of the
paper. Its make-up is in his hands. An autocrat on space and place, he
is seldom praised, but must take the blame for everything that goes
wrong. Under him are: (1) A telegraph editor, whose business it is to
handle news from outside the State; (2) a State editor, who directs as
best he may a horde of local correspondents who represent the paper in
the rural and semi-rural districts; (3) one or more "rewrite men" or
copy-readers, whose business it is to write out the news sent in by
telephone, to correct the errors of illiterate reporters, and to rewrite
articles when necessary; and (4) the city editor.
This last functionary is frequently the most important man on the paper.
He is responsible for gathering nearly all of the original news that
goes into its columns. To be able to do this he must have a wide and
exact knowledge of the people and the history of the city. He works like
a slave; and the reporters, who are under his direct control, find in
him a stern but appreciative taskmaster.
These reporters, or news-gatherers, lead a strenuous but not unhappy
life. It is somewhat like that of the huntsman, their business being to
stalk news, which is perhaps the biggest and certainly the most elusive
game which the world produces. Their lives are sometimes, their liberty
oftener, and their jobs always, in danger. If one of them permits a
rival paper to get a "scoop," he is apt to find himself in the situation
of the warrior described in Shakespeare's sonnet:
"The painful warrior, famousëd for fight,
After a thousand victories once foiled,
Is from the book of honour razëd quite,
And all the rest forgot for which he toiled."
Some reporters hunt everywhere; others are assigned to special "beats."
Of the latter the city hall is the most important, but the central
police station yields the largest number of good stories, because it is
there that tales of human folly, crime, and tragedy are most promptly
known. On most papers the law courts, politics, sport, drama, religion,
education, marine affairs, and society provide other "beats."
The organization thus briefly sketched is fairly typical, though by no
means universal. The outline on page 5 may make it a little clearer.
{Liner Department
{Advertising Manager {Street Men
{
{ {Newsboys
{ {Local Dealers
{Business {Circulation Manager {Mailing Department
{ Manager { {Collections
{ {
{ {Auditor {Bookkeeping
{ {Treasury
{Sup't of {Composing Room
{ Mechanical {Stereotyping-Room
{ Dep't {Pressroom
{
General { {Editorial
Manager { { Writers
{ {Cartoonists
{ {Special
{ { Writers
{ { {Editor of {Artists
{ { { Sunday {Special Writers
{Managing { { Paper
{ Editor { {
{ {Telegraph
{ { Editor
{Assistant {
{ Managing {State Editor
{ Editor {
{ or {Copy-Readers,
{ News { or Rewrite {City Hall
{ Editor { Men {Police
{ {Politics
{City Editor, in {Stock Market
{ charge of six {Courts
{ to twenty-five {Sport
{ reporters {Society
{Marine
{Religion
{Drama
{Music
Good reporters are not numerous. The reason is that, to succeed in this
work, a man or a woman must be able to gather news and to write. There
are plenty of people who can do either, but few who can do both.
In order to get news one must be physically tireless, fond of adventure,
persistent, unabashed, polite, courageous, and resourceful in the
highest degree. To the successful reporter an impossibility is only an
opportunity in disguise. In his lexicon there is no such word as "fail."
He must know how to make and keep friends. He must have that kind of
originality which is called "initiative." Above all, he must be
scrupulously honest. He must be actuated by a fixed determination to get
the news, the whole news, and nothing but the news.
In order to write well one must be able to spell, punctuate, and
capitalize; know the laws of grammar and how to apply them; be familiar
with the principles of rhetoric; and have a wide acquaintance with
good books. These qualities are not usually found in company with
those which make a successful news-gatherer. A person who has both is
therefore worth his weight in gold to a newspaper. The fact that this
combination of qualities is so rare leads many papers to employ special
rewrite men whose business it is to put into good English the raw
material furnished by the news-gatherer.
One other newspaper functionary remains to be noticed, the writer of
editorials. News items are confined to facts. Editorials contain
expressions of opinion. Everybody reads news, because it speaks for
itself. Editorials are designed to mould public opinion. Unless they are
characterized by extreme good sense or brilliancy, nobody heeds them,
though, if he makes a mistake in one, the writer of editorials is apt to
conclude that everybody reads them. The writer of editorials must
therefore be a person of exceptional qualifications.
III. Class Organization
For the present the teacher of the class studying this book may act as
city editor and the pupils as reporters. Later, perhaps, a more formal
organization may be effected, with pupils as managing editor, assistant
managing editor, city editor, etc.
IV. Newspaper Coöperation
The editor of the local paper will probably be willing to print any
really good material that the class produces. If possible, an
arrangement for this purpose should be made with him. It is also
possible that he may be willing to supplement this chapter by talking to
the class.
V. Topics for Oral Discussion
1. What Is a Newspaper?
2. The History of Journalism.
3. Why is a Study of Journalistic Writing Practical?
4. The Organization of a Newspaper.
5. The Managing Editor.
6. The Composing-room.
7. The Business Manager.
8. The Assistant Managing Editor.
9. The Telegraph Editor.
10. The State Editor.
11. The City Editor.
12. The Reporter.
13. "Beats."
14. "Scoops."
15. Editorials.
16. The Gospel of Work.
VI. Suggested Reading
Kipling's _The Man Who Would Be King_ and _The Light That Failed_.
VII. Memorize
A PSALM OF LIFE
Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream,
For the soul is dead that slumbers
And things are not what they seem.
Life is real, life is earnest,
And the grave is not its goal;
"Dust thou art, to dust returnest,"
Was not spoken of the soul.
Not enjoyment and not sorrow
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Find us farther than to-day.
Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.
In the world's broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!
(_Continued on Page 13._)
CHAPTER II
NEWS ITEMS
"Facts are stubborn things."
LE SAGE.
I. Assignment
Find and report some unusual and interesting thing that has been made or
done by boys or girls. Do not get your information from literature. Get
it from life. Above all, don't make it up. It must be fact, not fiction.
When the city editor gives a reporter an assignment, he does not expect
to answer questions. The reporter's business is to give the city editor
copy, not to rely on him for information. The reporter who does not
promptly learn this fact soon ceases to be a reporter.
II. Getting the Facts
In all writing the gathering of material is more important than any
other one thing. In reportorial work it is almost all-important. Almost
anybody can tell a story if he has the facts. Energy, persistent
politeness, and a pair of stout legs are more essential in reporting
than is a large vocabulary. The pursuit of news is always a fascinating
and sometimes a dangerous game. If you do not believe this, read
_Fighting in Flanders_, by E. Alexander Powell; or _The Events Man_, by
Richard Barry. Above everything else, remember that the most
uncompromising adherence to facts is essential.
Do not make the mistake of supposing that newspaper men fail to
recognize the importance of telling the exact truth. They strive
constantly and strenuously to do so. In the office of the _New York
World_ there used to be, and probably still is, a placard on which
Joseph Pulitzer had printed these three words: "Accuracy, ACCURACY,
=ACCURACY=." All reporters strive constantly to be accurate. If they do
not always succeed, it is due to the difficulty of the task. They have
to work fast lest the news grow cold. Usually they write in the midst of
an uproar. When you are disposed to find fault with them by reason of
their carelessness, remember that Sir Walter Raleigh, unable to
determine the facts concerning a quarrel that occurred under his own
window, concluded that his chance of telling the truth about events that
happened centuries previous was small.
III. Writing
In preparing manuscript the typewriter in these days is almost
indispensable. The value to a reporter of a course in typewriting is
therefore obvious. It is also obvious that copy must be letter-perfect.
Before it can be printed, it must be entirely free from mistakes in
spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and the other essentials of good
usage.
IV. Model
The following article is clipped from a New York daily. In what it says
and leaves unsaid it is an excellent model.
FARTHEST NORTH IS RIGHT HERE IN TOWN
Hundreds of persons were attracted yesterday to Brook Avenue,
near One Hundred and Forty-ninth Street, to inspect the
handiwork in snow of three fourteen-year-old boys.
They had built a thick-walled cottage, 25 feet high and with
15 × 16 feet ground dimensions. Roof and walls, inside and out,
had been smoothed; and a coat of water had turned the snow house
into a shimmering glaze.
The interior was divided into four rooms, all bearing out the
truthfulness of the sign tacked up without, which read: "House
to let, three rooms and bath." Even the bath, modeled in snow,
was there. Rugs, tables, chairs, and sofas made the Esquimau
edifice cozy within; and an oil stove kept eggs and coffee
sizzling merrily at dinner time.
The builders were three days at their task. They are Tom Brown,
of No. 516 East One Hundred and Forty-seventh Street; Arthur
Carraher, of No. 430 Brook Avenue; and Walter Waller, of No. 525
East One Hundred and Forty-fifth Street.
V. Notes and Queries
1. State the reason for the use of each capital letter and each
mark of punctuation in the model.
2. Tell whether each sentence is simple, complex, or compound.
3. Explain the syntax of each adverb in the model.
4. Point out three words or phrases that have color, character, or
distinction.
5. What is the subject of each paragraph?
6. Are the "Four W's" sufficiently indicated? Point them out.
7. Study the heading. The art of writing good headings is almost as
difficult as that of writing good poetry, which it resembles in
that, as the poet is limited to a certain number of syllables,
the writer of headlines is limited to a fixed number of letters.
VI. Suggested Time Schedule
_Monday_
Discuss Sections I, II, and III of this chapter. Send the class to the
board and dictate the model as an exercise in spelling, punctuation, and
capitalization. Review last week's work.
_Tuesday_
Recitation on Notes and Queries.
_Wednesday_
Oral Composition: i.e., each pupil will bring to class his news
article--not written but in his head--and be prepared to deliver it to
the class as if he were a reporter dictating to a stenographer or
telephoning his report to his paper.
_Thursday_
Profiting by Wednesday's discussion, the pupils will write their
articles and hand them to the teacher, who will proof-read them and
return them on Monday.
_Friday_
Public Speaking--Organize the class as a club. Let the officers arrange
a program consisting of declamations, debates, essays, dialogues, etc.
This day may also be used for the reading of the best articles that
members of the class have written.
VII. Organization of Material
After you get your story, you must decide on a plan for its discussion.
This will depend largely on its nature. Indeed, the plan and the style
of any piece of writing are to the material as are the clothes to the
body. They must fit the body. The body determines their shape.
The model in Section IV is a bit of exposition composed partly of
description and partly of narration. Its framework is as follows:
Par. 1. The "Four W's": Who=hundreds of people;
What=handiwork in snow; When=yesterday;
Where=Brook Avenue near One Hundred and
Forty-ninth Street.
Par. 2. The Exterior of the House.
Par. 3. The Interior.
Par. 4. The Architects.
VIII. Some Possible Subjects
1. The Gas Engine that Jack built.
2. A Profitable Garden.
3. How a Boy earned his Education.
4. A Cabinet.
5. How to bind Books.
6. Stocking and keeping an Aquarium.
7. How to build a Flatboat.
8. How to make Dolls from Corn-Husks.
9. Metallic Band Work.
10. A Sled made of Ice.
11. Silk Culture.
12. Chickens.
13. A Good Notebook.
14. A Sketch-Book.
15. A Successful Composition.
16. Skees.
17. A Paper Boat.
18. Toys made in the Manual Training Rooms.
19. A Hat.
20. A Dress.
21. The best subject of all, however, is none of these, but one that
the pupil finds himself.
IX. Suggested Reading
Elbert Hubbard's _A Message to Garcia_.
X. Memorize
A PSALM OF LIFE (_continued from Page 7_)
Trust no future, howe'er pleasant!
Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act, act in the living Present!
Heart within and God o'erhead!
Lives of great men all remind us,
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;
Footprints that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.
Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW.
TO TEACHERS. At this point a review of Chapter V, "Proof-Reading" and
Chapter VI, "The Correction of Themes," of _Practical English
Composition_, Book I, will be found an invaluable exercise.
CHAPTER III
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES
"Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime."
LONGFELLOW.
I. Assignment
Write a biographical note of about two hundred words concerning a
citizen who has just come into public notice.
II. Obtaining the Facts
If the subject of the note is already distinguished, the facts can
usually be collected from books and periodicals. Poole's _Index of
Periodical Literature_ will point the way. Most newspapers keep an
indexed mass of biographical material, which, of course, is at a
reporter's disposal. When these sources fail, the man himself must be
interviewed, which is a task that requires tact, politeness,
persistency, a good memory, and a clear idea of the character and
quantity of the information needed.
III. Models
I
James McHenry was born in Ireland, 1753; came to Philadelphia,
1771; studied medicine under Dr. Benjamin Rush; served in the
Revolutionary War as surgeon; became Washington's secretary,
1778; sat in Congress, 1783-86; was a member of the
Constitutional Convention; was Secretary of War under Washington
and Adams, 1796-1801; and died in Baltimore, 1816. His most
conspicuous public service was rendered in inducing Maryland to
ratify the Constitution. Fort McHenry, the bombardment of which
in 1814 inspired Francis Scott Key to write the _Star-Spangled
Banner_, was named in McHenry's honor.
II
Alexander Hamilton is one of those great Americans of whose
services to the nation no American can afford to be ignorant. As
a soldier in the Revolution, no man possessed more of
Washington's confidence. To him as much as to any one man was
due the movement that resulted in the formation of the
Constitution; he took a leading part in the debates of the
Convention; and the ratification of the Constitution was brought
about largely by the _Federalist_, a paper in which he so ably
interpreted the provisions of that instrument that it has ever
since been regarded as one of the world's political classics. As
Secretary of the Treasury under Washington he performed wonders;
Daniel Webster said of his work in this office: "He rent the
rock of the national resources, and abundant streams of revenue
gushed forth. He touched the dead corpse of Public Credit, and
it sprung upon its feet." He was born in Nevis, one of the West
Indies, in 1757, and was mortally wounded by Aaron Burr in a
duel, 1804, at Weehawken, New Jersey.
IV. Organization of Material
Models I and II illustrate two types of biographical notes. That about
James McHenry consists of three sentences, which give: (1) A
chronological survey of his life; (2) a statement of his chief public
service; (3) the fact by which he is most likely to be remembered by the
casual reader. It is a good brief form to use in writing about most men
and women. Model II is better if the subject is remarkable for many
achievements. Its structure is as follows: (1) A keynote sentence; (2),
(3), (4) three illustrations of the fact stated in (1); (5) dates. The
same principles apply to notices of living people. In writing use one
model or the other; do not deviate from them, unless you first find a
better model, and can persuade your teacher that it is better.
V. Exercises
1. Reduce some biography which you have read and enjoyed to a
biographical note of two hundred words.
2. Write a biographical note of two hundred words about a living
person of national reputation.
3. Write a biographical note of two hundred words about a living
person of state or city reputation.
4. Write a biographical note about the school janitor, the school
engineer, a member of your own family, your hired man, your
maid, or any other interesting person from whom you can extract
the desired information.
VI. Suggested Reading
Carl Schurz's _Life of Abraham Lincoln_.
VII. Memorize
THE SEVEN AGES OF MAN
All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players.
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.
And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woful ballad
Made to his mistress's eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard;
Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slippered pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.
SHAKESPEARE, _As You Like It_, Act II, Scene 7.
CHAPTER IV
REPORTING ACCIDENTS
"The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth."
I. Assignment
Report an accident which you have seen. The object of this exercise and
those which are to follow is threefold:
1. Vocational--to begin to teach the art of reporting, and hence
perhaps lay a foundation for students' earning a living.
2. Ethical--to show all the pupils how a report should be made and
thus give them a standard by which to measure newspapers.
3. Artistic--to teach all how to write modern English clearly,
simply, and correctly.
II. Model
This is a report of an accident on a city street, witnessed by a
reporter, and telephoned to a colleague at the newspaper office.
With a crash that could be heard for blocks, a high-powered
touring car, owned and driven by Mrs. William J. Sheldon, wife
of the millionaire gum manufacturer, who lives at East Boulevard
and Clifton Drive, collided late last night with a heavy milk
wagon at Payne Avenue and East 30th St. Both Mrs. Sheldon and
John Goldrick, 656 East 105th St., driver of the milk wagon,
escaped injury, except for a few minor cuts and bruises.
Mrs. Sheldon was driving east on Payne Avenue on the way to the
Pennsylvania Station at Euclid Avenue to meet her husband, who
was coming from New York. The street at Payne Avenue and East
30th St. had just been flushed; and, when Mrs. Sheldon
endeavored to turn out toward the car tracks to avoid hitting
Goldrick's wagon, which was just turning into Payne Avenue, the
car skidded and side-swiped the wagon.
One wheel of the machine and the mud guard were torn loose,
while glass from the shattered wind-shield rained over Mrs.
Sheldon as she strove desperately to twist the wheel. Goldrick
was hurled from his seat, landing in the back of the wagon,
which was piled high with cases of milk bottles. The horses were
thrown from their feet by the shock.
Mrs. Sheldon and Goldrick were extricated from the wreckage and
conveyed to the office of Dr. W. A. Masters, Payne Avenue and
East 32d St., where their injuries were dressed. Later they were
taken to their homes.
III. Suggested Time Schedule
_Monday_--Dictation of Model and Study of Last Week's Errors.
_Tuesday_--Notes and Queries.
_Wednesday_--Oral Composition--e.g., Telephoning.
_Thursday_--Written Composition.
_Friday_--Public Speaking.
IV. Notes, Queries, and Exercises
1. How many paragraphs are there in the report in Section II?
2. What is the subject of each?
3. The object?
4. Point out the "Four W's."
5. State why each capital and each mark of punctuation in the model
is used.
6. Tell whether each sentence is simple, complex, or compound.
7. Find in the model an adverbial phrase, an adverb, a noun used
adverbially, a noun in apposition, a clause modifying a verb, a
participle modifying the subject of a verb, a non-restrictive
clause, and a clause used as an adjective.
8. Point out four words or phrases that give color to the story.
9. Write an appropriate heading for the model.
V. Oral Composition
Prepare a report of some accident which you have yourself seen or which
has been described to you by an eye-witness. Be sure to get into the
report in the proper order the "Four W's," the cause, and the result.
Note that a good story usually consists of three parts:
1. The Previous Situation.
2. What Happened = The Climax.
3. The Result = The Dénouement.
These are all in the model, but 2 is put first because it is most
important. Observe the order of the model. Each member of the class will
have a chance to make his report orally, and it will be subjected to the
analysis of the class and teacher, who will blame or praise it according
to its deserts. The reporter must defend himself, if attacked. Each
pupil will therefore in turn play the rôle of a reporter, telephoning a
story to headquarters while the class and teacher enact the part of the
city editor.
VI. Written Composition
After the process outlined in Section IV of this chapter has shown the
reporter how to go about the job, the report is to be written,
proof-read by the teacher, corrected by the reporter, and rewritten
until it is letter-perfect.
VII. Suggested Reading
Kipling's _007_ in _The Day's Work_.
VIII. Memorize
SUNSHINE
Think every morning when the sun peeps through
The dim leaf-latticed windows of the grove
How jubilant the happy birds renew
Their long melodious madrigals of love;
And, when you think of this, remember too
'Tis always morning somewhere, and above
The awakening continents from shore to shore
Somewhere the birds are singing evermore.
LONGFELLOW, _The Birds of Killingworth_.
CHAPTER V
CONSTRUCTIVE NEWSPAPER WRITING
"The drying up a single tear has more
Of honest fame than shedding seas of gore."
LORD BYRON.
I. Introduction
The worst thing about most news articles is that they tell of
destruction, failure, and tragedy instead of construction, success, and
happiness. If one were to judge from the papers, one would be forced to
conclude that the world is rapidly advancing from civilization to
barbarism. To test the truth of this assertion, you have only to examine
almost any current newspaper. A man may labor honorably and usefully for
a generation without being mentioned; but if he does or says a foolish
thing, the reporters flock to him as do cats to a plate of cream. The
reason is obvious. Tragedy is more exciting than any other form of
literature; it contains thrills; it sells papers. However, aside from
the fact that the publication of details concerning human folly and
misfortune is often cruel and unjust to the sufferers, its influence
upon the public is debasing in the same way, if not in the same degree,
as public executions were debasing.
Newspaper writing should, therefore, deal with progress rather than with
retrogression. Most newspaper men admit that this is true, but declare
that the public will not buy the kind of papers which all sensible
people approve. Just as soon as such papers can be made to pay, they
say, we shall have them. One of the objects of this course is to create
a taste for constructive rather than destructive newspapers.
As an exercise tending to produce this result, the student should each
day examine the local paper for the purpose of ascertaining how many
columns of destruction and how many of construction it contains. The
result should be reported to the class and thence to the papers as news.
There are three kinds of items which boys and girls can write and which
are constructive. These are:
1. Items dealing with progress.
2. Humorous stories.
3. Items based on contrast.
The work this week will be on the first of these.
II. Models
I
ST. LOUIS, Feb. 22.--L. C. Phillips will plant 1,000 acres of
his southeast Missouri land in sunflowers this year as a further
demonstration that this plant can be cultivated with profit on
land where other crops may not thrive so well. Phillips has been
experimenting for several years in the culture of sunflowers,
whose seed, when mixed with other seed, makes excellent chicken
and hog feed. Last year he planted nearly 100 acres in
sunflowers. The cost of planting and harvesting is about $6 an
acre, he says, and the returns from $35 to $48.
II
HALIFAX, N.S., Dec. 25.--One of the most extraordinary
endowments bestowed by nature on any land is enjoyed by the
fortunate group of counties round the head of the Bay of Fundy,
Nova Scotia.
Along the shores of this bay there are great stretches of meadow
land covered with rich grass and dotted with barns. These
meadows have been brought into existence by the power of the
tides in the Bay of Fundy, which have no parallel elsewhere on
the globe. There is sometimes a difference of sixty feet between
the levels of the water at low and at high tide. The tide sweeps
in with a rush, carrying with it a vast amount of solid material
scoured out of its channel.
The accumulated deposits of the ages have produced a soil
seventy or eighty feet deep. Owing to its peculiarities, this
meadow land retains its fertility in a marvelous way, producing
heavy crops of hay annually without diminution and without
renewal for an indefinite number of years.
When renewal is desired it is only necessary to open a dike,
which allows the tide to flood the land again and leave a fresh
deposit of soil.
III
WASHINGTON, Dec. 25.--Michigan holds sixth place among the
States in the value of its mineral production, with an output in
1912 valued at $180,062,486, according to the United States
Geological Survey, its prominence being due to its great wealth
in copper and iron. Ranking second only to Minnesota in the
production of iron ore, it is third in the production of copper,
being exceeded only by Arizona and Montana. It also stands first
in the production of salt, bromine, calcium chloride, graphite,
and sand lime brick.
In 1911 Michigan's production of iron ore was 8,945,103 long
tons, valued at $23,810,710, and in 1912 it increased to
12,717,468 long tons, valued at $28,003,163.
The production of copper in Michigan, the value of which in the
last two years has exceeded that of the output of iron ore,
amounted in 1912 to 218,138,408 pounds, valued at $135,992,837,
a decrease in quantity, but an increase in value of over
$8,000,000.
The mining of copper in Michigan is of prehistoric origin, the
metal having been used by the North American Indians before the
advent of the white man. The records since 1810, or for a little
more than 100 years, show that the total production of copper in
Michigan from that date to the close of 1912 has amounted to
over 5,200,000,000 pounds, which is about 30 per cent of the
total output of the United States.
III. Oral Composition
All three of these items are evidently condensations of longer articles.
The writers have boiled down a vast amount of material into the form in
which it here appears. The student will find similar material in
abundance in _The Literary Digest_, in _The Scientific American_, in
_The National Geographical Magazine_, in many government reports, and in
almost any daily newspaper. In preparing for this exercise he should
observe the following steps:
1. Find his material.
2. Boil it down, to the size desired, which is a most useful
exercise of the judgment.
3. Make a careful framework, in doing which the models will be
useful.
4. Get the whole so well in mind that he can present it fluently.
Hesitation should not be tolerated.
IV. Suggested Time Schedule
_Monday_--Dictation.
_Tuesday_--Notes and Queries.
_Wednesday_--Oral Composition.
_Thursday_--Written Composition.
_Friday_--Public Speaking.
V. Notes, Queries, and Exercises.
1. Write an appropriate heading for each item.
2. Point out the "Four W's" in each.
3. Tell whether each sentence is simple, compound, or complex.
4. Explain the syntax of the nouns in Model I, the pronouns in II,
the verbs in III.
5. Explain the location of St. Louis, Halifax, Nova Scotia, the Bay
of Fundy, Washington, Michigan, Minnesota, Arizona, and
Montana.
6. Where is the copper country of Michigan? The salt, bromine,
calcium, chloride, graphite, and brick regions?
7. Explain the etymological signification of "demonstration,"
"extraordinary," "accumulated," "Nova Scotia," "annually,"
"geological," "Arizona," "Montana," "advent."
8. How many words does Model I contain? II? III?
9. Discover and write out the framework of each model.
10. Find one subject on which you could make an item like Model I.
Do the same for II and III.
VI. Written Composition
Remember that you are writing for the compositor. Every letter must be
right. If you do a good piece of work it is altogether probable that
your composition will get into one of the local papers.
VII. Suggested Reading
Mark Twain's _Tom Sawyer_, _Huckleberry Finn_, _Pudd'nhead Wilson_, or
_Roughing It_.
VIII. Memorize
GOETHALS, THE PROPHET ENGINEER
A man went down to Panama
Where many a man had died
To slit the sliding mountains
And lift the eternal tide:
A man stood up in Panama,
And the mountains stood aside.
For a poet wrought in Panama
With a continent for his theme,
And he wrote with flood and fire
To forge a planet's dream,
And the derricks rang his dithyrambs
And his stanzas roared in steam.
Where old Balboa bent his gaze
He leads the liners through,
And the Horn that tossed Magellan
Bellows a far halloo,
For where the navies never sailed
Steamed Goethals and his crew;
So nevermore the tropic routes
Need poleward warp and veer,
But on through the Gates of Goethals
The steady keels shall steer,
Where the tribes of man are led toward peace
By the prophet-engineer.
PERCY MACKAYE.[1]
[1] "He [Goethals] received last week three medals--one at Washington,
at the hands of President Wilson, from the National Geographical
Society; another in New York, at the hands of Dr. John H. Finley, head
of the New York State Educational System, from the _Civic Forum_; and a
third, also in New York, at the hands of Hamilton W. Mabie, from the
National Institute of Social Sciences. At the presentation of the _Civic
Forum_ medal, a poem written for the occasion was read by its author,
Mr. Percy MacKaye." (_The Outlook_. March 14, 1914.) This poem is here
quoted, by permission, from Mr. MacKaye's volume, _The Present Hour_.
Published by The Macmillan Company, New York.
CHAPTER VI
HUMOROUS ITEMS
"To laugh, if but for an instant only, has never been granted to
man before the fortieth day from his birth."--PLINY.
I. Introduction
Laughter, when it hurts nobody, is wholesome. It is the handmaid of
happiness. It enriches life. Pleasant but not silly humor and wit are
therefore altogether desirable in a paper. Few days in anybody's life
are devoid of incidents that tickle the fancy. Material for good
humorous stories is abundant everywhere. The faculty of recognizing it
when it is seen, and the ability to present it effectively, however,
need a little training. To make a beginning in these directions is the
object of the exercises that follow.
II. Assignment
Find, but not in a book or a paper, a humorous story, and tell it, first
orally, then in writing.
III. Models
I
Called on to decide the ownership of a hen claimed by George
Bass and Joseph Nedrow, of Arnold City, Justice of the Peace
John Reisinger hit upon a "Solomonesque" solution. "Take this
fowl to Arnold City," he directed his constable, "and release it
near the poultry yards of these two men. In whose hen house it
goes to roost, to him it belongs." The constable, accompanied by
Bass and Nedrow, did as directed. When liberated, the bird
promptly flew into the chicken yard of Charles Black, where the
constable decided it would have to stay under the justice's
ruling. The costs in the case amount to ten times the value of
the hen.
II
James M. I. Galloway, veterinary surgeon of Kirkintilloch,
Scotland, arrived yesterday from Glasgow with photographs of a
cow with a wooden leg on the starboard quarter, which the
veterinary says is almost as good to the cow as an ordinary leg
of beef and much more effective in knocking out folks who try to
milk her on the wrong side.
Other veterinaries laughed at Galloway, who is young and of an
experimental temperament, when he decided to save the life of
this cow after the leg had been cut off by a locomotive. He
insisted, however, on fitting the wooden leg, which he regards
as much more useful than wooden heads on Scotch veterinaries.
The only time the wooden leg gets the cow into trouble is when
she stands too long in a damp field and the leg sinks in a foot
or so.
III
The written orders of Mr. J. W. Brooks, a once celebrated
American railroad manager of Michigan, were, it is said, almost
beyond deciphering. On a certain occasion, when a double track
had been laid on one of his roads, it was reported at
headquarters that the barn of an old farmer stood partly upon
land which the company had bought, and dangerously near to
passing trains. Mr. Brooks, who was just getting ready for a
trip down the Mississippi, wrote to the farmer that he must move
his barn from the company's land at once. If he delayed he would
be liable to a suit for damages. The old farmer duly received
the letter, and was able to make out the manager's signature,
but not another word could he decipher. He took it to the
village postmaster, who, equally unable to translate the
hieroglyphics, was unwilling to acknowledge it. "Didn't you sell
a strip of land to the railroad?" he asked. "Yes." "Well, I
guess this is a free pass over the road." And for over a year
the farmer used the manager's letter as a pass, not one of the
conductors being able to dispute his translation of the
instrument.
IV. Notes and Queries
1. A good story always has three parts: (1) A Situation; (2) a
Climax; (3) a Solution. Do the models possess these elements? If
they do, point them out.
2. Point out the "Four W's" in each.
3. Tell whether each sentence is simple, complex, or compound.
4. Tell why each mark of punctuation is used.
5. Tell why each capital letter is used.
6. Explain the syntax of the adjectives in I, the adverbs in II,
the prepositions in III.
7. Explain the etymological signification of the following words:
"solution"; "fowl"; "constable"; "photographs"; "veterinary";
"locomotive"; "decipher"; "liable"; "translate";
"hieroglyphics"; "conductors."
8. Find on the map Uniontown, Arnold City, Kirkintilloch, Michigan,
and the Mississippi River.
9. Explain the reference in "Solomonesque."
10. What are "costs"?
11. Find a metaphor in II.
V. Suggested Time Schedule
As usual, except that on Friday one number of the program may be a
magazine composed of the best stories written during the week by pupils.
VI. Oral Composition
Be sure that your story has a good point; is free from slang; and
possesses a beginning, a middle, and an end.
VII. Written Composition
_Suggestion_: Imagine that the classroom is the local room of a daily
paper, the pupils reporters, and the teacher the editor. The stories may
be written in class.
VIII. Memorize
THE GRASSHOPPER AND THE CRICKET
The poetry of earth is never dead:
When all the birds are faint with the hot sun,
And hide in cooling trees, a voice will run
From hedge to hedge about the new-mown mead;
That is the Grasshopper's;--he takes the lead
In summer luxury;--he has never done
With his delights, for when tired out with fun
He rests at ease beneath some pleasant weed.
The poetry of earth is ceasing never:
On a lone winter evening, when the frost
Has wrought a silence, from the stove there shrills
The Cricket's song, in warmth increasing ever,
And seems to one in drowsiness half lost
The Grasshopper's among some grassy hills.
JOHN KEATS.
CHAPTER VII
THE USE OF CONTRAST
"Give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning,
the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness."--ISAIAH.
I. Introduction
Antithesis, or contrast, is one of the two most effective devices at the
disposal of any artist, whether he works with words or colors. Its
skillful use often enables a newspaper writer to make a good item out of
trifling material. The object of this week's work is to teach a little
of the art of using antithesis effectively in reportorial work.
II. Models
I
LONDON, Dec. 25.--Mrs. Rebecca Clarke, who is 109 years of age,
presided this morning at the wedding breakfast of her baby son,
Harry, who is 67. This is Mr. Clarke's second venture on the
matrimonial sea. His two brothers are sprightly bachelors of 70
and 73 years. Mrs. Clarke toasted the newly married couple and
ate the first slice of the wedding cake. She attended the
Christmas wedding celebration in the evening.
II
Commuters in Yonkers took advantage of the Christmas holiday to
mow their lawns. The grass has been getting longer and longer,
owing to the spring weather, until it just had to be cut.
Players on the Dunwoodie Country Club course, also at Yonkers,
had to keep moving to keep warm yesterday, but they played on
greens which had been mowed only a few days ago, and those who
were fond of flowers stopped now and then to pick a buttercup.
The greens keeper at Dunwoodie says that the greens have been
mowed four times since the latter part of September, when in
ordinary seasons the grass is mowed for the last time until
spring. The condition of the course is about the same as in May,
according to the greens keeper.
Up in Bronx Park the grass has not been mowed recently, but it
is unusually long for the time of year, and so it is in the
other city parks. The same condition prevails in the nearby
cemeteries. Out in New Jersey a fine crop of grass is in
evidence.
Farmers in the vicinity of New York are saving on their usual
bills for winter fodder, for with the spring weather and the
long grass the animals can pick up a living out of doors.
III
NEW YORK, Dec. 31.--An order for $2,000,000 worth of shrapnel,
to be used in the war in Europe, has been rejected by the
Commonwealth Steel Company of Granite City, Ill., it was learned
to-day, because Clarence H. Howard, president of the
organization, believes warfare should not be recognized.
Mr. Howard, who lives in St. Louis, is known all over the
country as the "Golden rule steel man," because he tries to run
his plant in accordance with the Golden Rule by sharing profits
with the employes.
He is stopping at the Biltmore Hotel. Although he talked freely
of the trouble in Europe, he frowned at the report about the
$2,000,000 shrapnel order, and then said with blazing eyes:
"Why, our company would not accept an order for $15,000,000
worth of shrapnel! The war itself is a bitter shame. It is
something that does not belong in the general scheme of
enlightened humanity. If men would only think in unison, and
think purely and strongly for the abolition of war, it would
stop. There should be a general movement in the United States in
this direction.
"When I was a youngster I left my home in Centralia, Ill., to
win my own way in the world, and my mother gave me five
maxims--one for each finger--which I since have followed with
great profit. They are:
"'Seek company among those whom you can trust and association
with whom will make you better.
"'Never gamble or go where gambling is done.
"'Never drink or go where drinking is done.
"'As to smoking, it isn't so bad as drinking or gambling, but
take my advice and let it alone.
"'When in doubt about where to go, stop and ask if it would be a
good place to take your mother.'
"Platitudes, eh! Some might call them that; but they have
brought me happiness, and they have brought happiness to others.
Not long ago I sat down and figured how much I had saved by not
drinking, gambling, or the like. I figured it out at $1,000 a
year, and it had been 30 years since my mother gave me the
advice."
III. Notes
1. The contrast in Model I consists in the incongruity between the
ages of the people and their occupations; in II the contrast is
obviously the same as that alluded to in Byron's famous line,
"Seek roses in December, ice in June";
in III Mr. Howard's ideas, ideals, and conduct are in contrast with
those of some men.
2. Antithesis between the actual and the normal is always
interesting.
IV. Queries and Exercises
1. Explain the syntax of all nouns, adverbs, and infinitives in the
models.
2. Find a metaphor in I.
3. Discuss the meaning and etymology of the following words:
matrimonial, commuters, Christmas, December, animals.
4. Is "nearby" a better word than "adjacent"?
5. Where is Yonkers?
6. Tell whether the sentences are simple, compound, or complex.
7. What is the subject of each paragraph in II and III?
8. Write double headings for I and II. "Double" means in two parts.
For example:
| SHAKESPEARE |
| CELEBRATION |
| PLANS ADVANCE |
| |
| President of Drama League Tells |
| of Interest in Tercentenary |
| Observances |
Remember that you can use only a fixed number of letters in each
line.
9. Define antithesis and metaphor. Find an example of each in
to-day's paper.
V. Composition
1. _Choosing a Subject._ Select an incident that has come within
the circle of your own observation; that has never, as far as
you know, been described in print; and that is sufficiently
unique to present a good contrast to the usual course of events.
2. _Collecting Material._ Get as many concrete details as possible.
Generalities never glitter. They are useful only to cure
insomnia.
3. _Arranging Material._ Look out for the "Four W's." Make a
framework that is definite. It should be determined, in the last
analysis, not by the model but by the material.
4. _Oral Composition._ Rehearse your article to your mother or to
any other person whom you can induce to listen.
5. _Written Composition._ "Festinâ lente." "Hasten slowly." When a
French student takes his college entrance examinations, he is
plucked if he misspells one word, misplaces one capital letter,
or makes a single mistake in punctuation. Lord Bacon somewhere
says: "Let us proceed slowly that we may sooner make an end."
Sheridan wrote:
"You write with ease to show your breeding,
But easy writing's curst hard reading."
Care in No. 5 will eliminate No. 6.
6. _Revision and rewriting._
VI. Suggested Reading
Coleridge's _The Rime of the Ancient Mariner_.
VII. Memorize
MUSIC
Let me go where'er I will,
I hear a sky-born music still:
It sounds from all things old,
It sounds from all things young,
From all that's fair, from all that's foul,
Peals out a cheerful song.
It is not only in the rose,
It is not only in the bird,
Not only where the rainbow glows,
Nor in the song of woman heard,
But in the darkest, meanest things
There alway, alway something sings.
'Tis not in the high stars alone,
Nor in the cup of budding flowers,
Nor in the redbreast's mellow tone,
Nor in the bow that smiles in showers,
But in the mud and scum of things
There alway, alway something sings.
OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES.
TO TEACHERS. At this point a review of Chapter XII, "Vade Mecum, or
Catechism," of _Practical English Composition_, Book I, will be found an
invaluable exercise.
CHAPTER VIII
THRILLERS
"'Tis strange, but true; for truth is always strange,
Stranger than fiction."
BYRON.
I. Assignments
1. Relate the most exciting adventure that has occurred to you. Use
the third person. Reporters usually are not allowed to use the
pronoun "I."
2. Relate the most exciting adventure that has befallen any person
whom you personally know well enough to interview on the
subject.
3. If you can obtain material in neither of the foregoing ways, get
a story from the movies, after the manner suggested in the
following dispatch:
TEACH REPORTING BY "MOVIES"
_Journalism Instructors at Columbia Use Films to Develop
Students' Faculty of Observation._
Reporters' "copy" telling in graphic style of the Balkan War
poured into the "city room" of the newspaper plant at the
Columbia University School of Journalism yesterday. The reason
was that moving pictures had been adopted as a means of giving
to the students an opportunity to exercise their powers of
observation and description in such a fashion as would be
required of them in real newspaper work.
The idea of using a moving picture machine to train future
newspaper reporters in accuracy of observation was originated by
Professor Walter B. Pitkin, and was approved immediately by Dr.
Talcott Williams, director of the school. Dr. C. E. Lower,
instructor in English, is the official operator, but this work
will probably be given later to a student.
4. A last resort is literature. In Stevenson, Poe, or Conan Doyle,
you can probably find a story that can be translated into a
sufficiently thrilling newspaper dispatch.
II. Models
I
Colonel Folque, commander of a division of artillery at the
front, recently needed a few men for a perilous mission, and
called for volunteers. "Those who undertake this mission will
perhaps never come back," he said, "and he who commands will be
one of the first sons of France to die for his country in this
war."
Volunteers were numerous. A young graduate of a polytechnic
school asked for the honor of leading those who would undertake
the mission. It was the son of Colonel Folque. The latter paled,
but did not flinch.
His son did not come back.--_Boston Herald_.
II
Villagers in fear of death were scuttling out of little homes
like rats driven from holes by flood.
One person in the village remained at her accustomed post and
from time to time recorded into the mouth of a telephone
receiver the progress of the conflict, while a French general at
the other end of the wire listened. Presently her communications
were interrupted. "A bomb has just fallen in this office," the
girl called to the general. Then conversation ceased.
It is always that way with the telephone girl when tragedy
stalks abroad and there is necessity to maintain communication
with the outside world. The telephone girl of Etain may be
lionized in lyric literature. She deserves it. The telephone
girl of Etain may find brief mention in history. She deserves
that much at least. And yet the telephone girl at Etain is but
one of her kind the world over.--_Sioux City Journal_.
III. Oral Composition
1. Point out in each story the situation, the climax, and the
_dénouement_.
2. Discuss the meaning of "polytechnic," "lionized," "lyric."
3. Discuss the etymology of "volunteers," "mission," "graduate,"
"telephone," "literature."
4. Describe Etain.
5. Find in the models examples of antithesis, alliteration, and
simile.
IV. Written Composition
1. Do not exceed the length of the models.
2. Be sure that your story is in three paragraphs, arranged thus:
(1) Situation; (2) Climax; (3) Dénouement.
3. Put your story in the form of a news article with a heading.
Don't forget the "Four W's."
V. Model
NEW YORK, November 21. The mystery of the disappearance of Mrs.
Pauline Edwards on November 18 was cleared up to-day. A party of
police visited her home at 96 East Twenty-third St. at 9 A.M.
for the purpose of making a final examination of the premises.
They found Mr. Allan Edwards, her husband, at home, and
compelled him to accompany them on their tour of inspection.
Careful scrutiny of all the rooms having failed to reveal any
evidence of foul play, they were about to leave the cellar,
which they had visited last, when Edwards, who was apparently
under the influence of liquor or strong excitement, called their
attention in abusive language to the construction of the walls,
at the same time rapping heavily with a cane upon the bricks of
the foundation of a chimney. His blows were answered by a sound
from within the chimney. It seemed at first like the sobbing of
a child and then swelled into an indescribable scream, howl, or
shriek. The wall was broken down, revealing the bloody corpse
of Mrs. Edwards. It stood erect. On its head sat a black cat.
On being arraigned before Police Justice O'Toole, Edwards
confessed his guilt and told the story of his life. He comes
from an excellent family, is a graduate of the University of
Utopia, and had a thriving business until, several years ago, he
became addicted to drink. During the summer of 1913, in a
drunken frenzy, he gouged out one eye of a cat named Pluto, who
had formerly been one of his pets. More recently he had
destroyed this animal by hanging it with a clothes line in his
yard. Remorse for this cruel deed caused him about two months
ago to domesticate another cat, which was exactly like the first
except that, whereas the first was entirely black, the second
had on its breast a white spot, shaped like a gallows.
This circumstance, the fact that the animal had only one eye,
and his own nervous condition soon made Edwards loathe and fear
the new cat. On the morning of November 17, he and Mrs. Edwards
went to the cellar to inspect their supply of coal. The cat
followed them down the steep stairs and nearly overthrew
Edwards, who thereupon seized an axe and would have slain it,
had not Mrs. Edwards interposed. In his fury at being thwarted,
he buried the axe in her skull. As the cellar had been newly
plastered, he had no difficulty in removing some bricks from the
chimney, in concealing the remains in its interior, and in
repairing the wall in such a way that it did not differ in
appearance from the rest of the cellar.
Dr. Felix Leo, Professor of Zoölogy at Columbia, on having these
facts told him this morning, said he thought it unlikely that
Cat Number Two was the same individual as Cat Number One, though
the story of Androcles and the lion, if true, would indicate
that animals of the feline species sometimes remember and
reciprocate a kindness. "Why, then," said the doctor, solemnly
closing one eye, "may we not suppose that a cat would have the
will and the intelligence to revenge an injury?"
The theory of Edwards, who is now confined in a padded cell in
the Tombs, is different. He maintains that the two cats are one
and the same, and that the body of the beast is occupied by that
ubiquitous spirit who is variously known as Satan, Hornie,
Cloots, Mephistopheles, Pluto, and Old Nick.
VI. Analysis of Model
This story is simply a translation into newspaper English of Edgar Allen
Poe's story entitled _The Black Cat_. Its three parts are as follows:
1. _Situation._ A man is converted by drink into such a beast that
he first tortures and kills a pet and afterwards in his frenzy
murders his wife, concealing her body in a chimney.
2. _Climax._ His crime is revealed by the wail of the cat, which he
had supposed dead but had walled up with the corpse.
3. _Dénouement._ He is to be executed.
Poe puts the _dénouement_ first, the situation second, and the
climax last, which is a common and effective method in tales of
horror and mystery. The newspaper method is to put the climax
first, the _dénouement_ second, and the situation last. This
arrangement, which is as old as Homer's _Odyssey_, is thus
alluded to by Byron:
"Most epic poets plunge in _medias res_,
(Horace makes this the heroic turnpike road),
And then your hero tells, whene'er you please,
What went before--by way of episode."
For newspaper purposes this method is desirable because it makes
a good lead. That is, the first paragraph, and if possible the
first sentence, tells the biggest fact about the case. Readers'
attention being thus caught and economized, they get the habit
of buying papers.
VII. Assignments
1. Write headlines for the models in this chapter.
2. Rewrite the Models in Section II on the plan of that in
Section V.
3. Rewrite on the same plan one of Poe's other detective stories,
one of Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes tales, Stevenson's _Dr.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde_ or _The Wrecker_, one of Cooper's novels,
or any other thrilling story.
VIII. Cautions
1. Be sure that you have your three situations in the right order.
2. Be exceedingly particular about the Four W's. Make them stand
out vividly in each situation.
3. Use the shortest words that will convey your meaning.
4. Use adjectives and adverbs sparingly. How many does the model
contain?
IX. Suggested Reading
Jules Verne's _Mysterious Island_; Robert Browning's _Hervé Riel_;
Tennyson's _Revenge_; Whittier's _Barbara Frietchie_; Samuel Rogers's
_Ginevra_.
X. Memorize
THE WAR-SONG OF DINAS VAWR
The mountain sheep are sweeter,
But the valley sheep are fatter;
We therefore deemed it meeter
To carry off the latter.
We made an expedition;
We met an host and quelled it;
We forced a strong position,
And killed the men who held it.
On Dyfed's richest valley,
Where herds of kine were browsing,
We made a mighty sally,
To furnish our carousing.
Fierce warriors rushed to meet us;
We met them, and o'erthrew them:
They struggled hard to beat us,
But we conquered them, and slew them.
As we drove our prize at leisure,
The king marched forth to catch us:
His rage surpassed all measure,
But his people could not match us.
He fled to his hall-pillars;
And, ere our force we led off,
Some sacked his house and cellars,
While others cut his head off.
We there, in strife bewildering,
Spilt blood enough to swim in:
We orphaned many children,
And widowed many women.
The eagles and the ravens
We glutted with our foemen;
The heroes and the cravens,
The spearmen and the bowmen.
We brought away from battle,
And much their land bemoaned them,
Two thousand head of cattle,
And the head of him who owned them:
Ednyfed, King of Dyfed,
His head was borne before us;
His wine and beasts supplied our feasts,
And his overthrow, our chorus.
THOMAS LOVE PEACOCK.